For several months I’d been ruing the fact I hadn’t been in a kayak for, well, several months. I made up for my lapse over the weekend.
Saturday, Marcy and I went for a hike on the wild side of Lake Johnson. (That would be the nearly two miles of unpaved trail on the Raleigh lake’s west side.) As we crossed the footbridge toward the boathouse we took note of the $5-an-hour rental sit-on-top kayaks on the adjoining beach. A little hot right now — it was in the mid-90s at mid-afternoon — but an ideal way to spend the evening. Which we did, returning around 6:30 and taking out a tandem for an hour or so. We paddled west, checking out where we’d hiked earlier in the day. We paddled east down to the dam. We stopped occasionally, pulled our paddles and floated, watching the sky change from an oppressive haze-blue, to a muted yellow to blazing pink.read more
In the April Outside magazine, I read about stand-up paddleboarding and thought, there’s another crazy thing I’ll never try.
Last week, I walked out of Great Outdoor Provision Co. and thought, Man, there’s something I can’t wait to try.
The difference perspective makes.
Here’s how the Outside article started (quoting from the drop headline): “Masochistic surf kook bent on taming very large stand-up paddleboard seeks Graveyard of the Atlantic for island-linking expedition entirely at whim of wind and waves.” Masochistic … kook … taming … Graveyard … whim — not descriptions I look for when deciding whether to try a new sport. The article — about the author’s six-day, 70-mile vertical paddle from Ocracoke to Nags Head — didn’t quite live up to its beware-all-ye-who-enter-here headline hype. But passages such as “ … averaging a fall every five minutes or so, accumulating abrasions on knees and knuckles …” and “Nevertheless, I go down hard, cracking my jaw on the deck and bloodying my lip. And I haven’t even reached the real turbulence yet … ” keep me from adding stand-up paddleboarding to my to-do list.read more
How many times today did you walk into a room and forget why you were there, pick up the phone only to forget who you wanted to call, take a half hour to find where you put your car keys?
If you’re of a certain age — that being the middle one — more than once, no doubt. And no doubt when one of the above happened you took it as further proof that your brain continues its rapid descent into the abyss. Well, Ha! You’re wrong!read more
Things I might be doing this Easter weekend if my nose wasn’t running like a Delta Tau Chi keg from spring allergies.
1. Paddle at Merchant’s Millpond
Merchant’s Millpond may be man made, but after 190 years the millpond has shed most signs of its civilized past. Today, the 760-acre millpond is much more coastal swamp than center of commerce. The pond’s dark, acidic waters meander through a forest of bald cypress and tupelo gums dripping with Spanish moss. Cooters, snapping turtles. water snakes and a host of vocal frogs add to this aquatic adventure, which is as easy as plunking down $5 for a canoe (for the first hour, $3 each additional hour). Easy paddling, no previous experience in a boat required.read more
Last weekend, I discovered a new park. This weekend, I rediscovered a park that, somehow, had flown off the radar.
Every couple of weeks, usually on a Saturday, Marcy and I pick a direction and drive. Whatever we discover along the way is what we do for the day. Yesterday, our compass pointed west.read more